CHICAGO - Freshman righthander Dan Miller (Joliet, Ill./Joliet Catholic) threw seven strong innings allowing just eight hits, one run, and a walk with seven strikeouts as Saint Xavier University picked up a 5-1 victory over Trinity Christian College (Ill.) Tuesday in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) baseball action at Richard R. Ferrell Memorial Field in Chicago. With the win, the Cougars improve to 17-23 overall and a league-leading 8-2 in the CCAC.

Sophomore right fielder Joe Miller (Chicago, Ill./Gordon Tech) led SXU at the plate going 2-for-3 with a run scored, while senior shortstop Brendan Christy (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) finished 1-for-3 with a RBI. Saint Xavier finished the game with just six hits, but took full advantage of four fielding errors by Trinity Christian. The Cougars also got solid pitching from its bullpen in the final two innings of the game. Sophomore rightie Shane Longest (Wilmington, Ill./Wilmington) struck out the side in the eighth and senior righthander Luke Gregerson (Lyons, Ill./Morton) closed things out with a 1-2-3 ninth inning, including two strikeouts.

SXU scored two runs in the bottom of the first following a dropped fly ball to centerfield. Junior second baseman Craig Buske (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central) helped put the Cougars ahead, 3-0, in the second inning with a two-out, RBI single to centerfield. Junior third baseman Nick Tantillo (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) brought another run home in the third inning on a RBI groundout to second base that scored Gregerson from third. After TCC scored its lone run in the fifth inning off a RBI single by junior Nick Richards, Saint Xavier tacked on an insurance run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly to right field by Christy to secure the 5-1 victory.

The Cougars (17-23 overall, 8-2 CCAC) continue their conference home stand on Wednesday, April 19, with a game against Purdue University-North Central (Ind.). Start time for Wednesday's game is 3 p.m. at Richard R. Ferrell Memorial Field in Chicago.